Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-01-18-Speech-3-033-000"
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"en.20120118.5.3-033-000"2
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"Mr President, let me welcome Ms Thorning-Schmidt to the Chamber this morning. From a UK perspective let me congratulate her on being the first member of the Kinnock family to make it to the office of Prime Minister. It will be a great surprise to many in the UK that finally one has made it. Denmark is an historic ally and the military personnel of Denmark served with great distinction alongside personnel from my country, from France and from others in defence of the people of Libya, and we owe you a great deal of gratitude for that.
I welcome the fact that Denmark is taking on the Presidency at such a crucial moment, when Europe stands on the brink of a political and economic catastrophe. My hope for the Danish Presidency is for some plain speaking. It is sometimes said that the most courageous act in politics is speaking truth unto power. The Presidency has begun well with its frank assessment of the damage that a financial transaction tax would cause to the gross domestic product of Europe.
I hope the Presidency will continue in this vein and tell all the leaders of the European Union that the time has come to face the truth about the eurozone and about Europe’s fundamental economic weaknesses, because the last Council was a staggering missed opportunity. Instead of facing reality, instead of tackling these problems, the Council has embarked on yet another round of introspective, institutional navel-gazing.
We must never forget that we are currently in the midst of not one but two great crises. The eurozone is the most immediate problem, but we must also not lose sight of the fact that Europe faces a fundamental challenge to its international economic position. We are losing competitiveness in the global marketplace; we are falling behind more dynamic regions of the world. We are allowing bureaucracy to stifle enterprise and regulation to hamper innovation.
As we work towards Europe in 2020 we need a growth agenda which creates jobs and which encourages businesses. The European Union must focus on stimulating economic reform and developing the single market. We therefore support some of the key priorities of the Danish Presidency.
On the Multiannual Financial Framework, we welcome the fact that it should be viewed in the context of needing to consolidate public finances. A budget that looks to the future, and not to the past, and a budget that strives for cost-effectiveness – as suggested in the programme – is very welcome from our point of view.
We need all Member States to take a similarly realistic, unrestrained view of the EU budget. We would like a budget freeze, and we want the focus on spending existing resources more efficiently and more effectively. We also look forward to the efforts of the Presidency to emphasise the need to revitalise the single market, because we share the vision of Europe as an open region for trade, an open region for investments. Economic openness is also a precondition for increased growth and employment.
Much of the programme seems to use the language of the 21st century to describe tried and failed policies of the 20th century. The Presidency programme speaks of more regulation, it speaks of a responsible economy, and it speaks of effective standardisation. All of us, politicians and officials, need to remember that every additional regulation comes at a cost. This must be paid for either by consumers when buying the goods or services or by workers who lose their jobs as employment is exported overseas.
There are aspects of the programme that we would deplore; we are alarmed by some of the thinking behind initiatives in the field of external relations and in the field of justice and home affairs. The Presidency should not, for instance, promote the Commission’s proposal for a common corporate tax base. It should have the courage to try and kill off such an ill-conceived and dangerous proposal. With that, let me wish the Danish Presidency well and we look forward to working constructively with them to advance the cause that we all believe in."@en1
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